The Washington Commanders are looking to bounce back after a rough loss last week vs the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday Night Football. The Commanders have now lost two straight games and sit at 7-4, still comfortably in playoff position in the NFC ahead of this weekend’s matchup vs the Dallas Cowboys at home.
The Commanders’ offensive coordinator is Kliff Kingsbury, who has designed a well oiled machine of an offense around star rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels. However, teams run by Kingsbury do have a considerable track record of seeing their production on that side of the ball drop off in the second half of seasons, and recently, Kingsbury was asked about this trend, per Ben Standig of The Athletic.
“I would have to see what you’re talking about historically, references,” said Kingsbury. “But I don’t have any plans to do anything to break that trend that I know of. I would have to see what years you’re talking about.”
Kingsbury then had some jokes about what plays he might implement for the Commanders moving forward.
“I was thinking about doing triple option, ” he said. “Is that what you’re thinking? We’re going to do what we do.”
An impressive resurgence in Washington
Despite any second half struggles that may or may not have been documented throughout his career, there’s no denying the immense impact that Kliff Kingsbury has had on the Commanders’ offense since signing on with the team in February of this year.
Two months after that, the Commanders secured their quarterback of the future by drafting reigning Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels out of LSU, and the team has responded with its best season in years.
Initially, Kingsbury appeared a bit hesitant to let Daniels show all of the tools that made him such a star at the collegiate level, instead opting mainly for shorter throws and checkdowns; however, in the weeks since, the Commanders have shown much more willingness to let Daniels sling the ball down the field, and the offense has seen great production as a result.
It remains to be seen whether all of this will be enough to get the Commanders into a position where they can win a playoff game, or perhaps more than one, this year. However, there’s no arguing with the results that have been produced so far.
The Commanders and Cowboys are set to take the field on Sunday at 1:00 PM ET from Landover.
